Red Roses and a Star Shaped Locket
by Iced Fire Heart
Summary: Princess Serena is growing up, but still a child at heart. Her heart breaks when she learns she must be married. Convinced she is a pawn between two kingdoms, Serena tries in vain to avoid the marriage she doesn't want. When she meets her soon-to-be husba


**Title:** Red Roses and a Star Shaped Locket

**Author:** Iced Fire Heart

**Rating:** T _(Certain Chapters will be M if needed)_

**Characters:** Darien & Serena of course!

**Notes:** One: I don't own Sailor Moon. If you think otherwise, you obviously haven't been around the Sailor Moon scene for very long.

Two: I'm going to use the NA names for the little kiddies. P Got a problem with it, call my lawyer. _(And after 3 hours on the phone, you'll find that I don't have one. Ya Ha!)_

**Summary:** Princess Serena is growing up, but still a child at heart. Her heart breaks when she learns she must be married. Convinced she is a pawn between two kingdoms, Serena tries in vain to avoid the marriage she doesn't want. When she meets her soon-to-be husband, will her feelings change or remain the same?

**Chapter One**

Once upon a time...

Everyone has a dream. Whether it be famous, or rich, or whatever their mind sets on. For a young princess, what could her dream possibly be? She had the riches. She was very well known, obviously. And, she had everything she could ever possibly want. So, what on Moon could she possibly ever wish for?

...A true love of her own, of course! Since Serena could remember, she had dreamt of one day being someone's wife. No, not someone's Queen, just someone's wife. And, at just fourteen, that was a bit of a mature dream. Afterall, her mother had reminded her, life was so long and only so little of it could be spent as a child. True love will find you, why must you insist on finding it?

Still, Serena had been one of _those_ girls. The type who daydreams all day of her knight in shining armor rescuing her from some danger, then whisking her off to his castle which lay in some exotic, romantic land. It wasn't rare for Serena's closest, and only, friends, who just happened to be Princesses of the neighbor planets, to tease her about her imagination and daydreaming. Not that their jokes went far, they were like Serena, though not as bad. How was Serena not the heir to the Venus Kingdom with the way she dreamt of love?

Serena herself was destined for many things. Her mother, Queen Serenity, had passed down so much to the Princess. Serena had the typical, overly long hair that was common among the Moon Kingdom monarchs. It was styled in the double buns, with two long ponytails that nearly reached the ground. Though Serena's hair was the color of the richest gold, she knew that one day it would become the same silver color her mother's did. And that didn't take at all take away from Serenity's beauty. Serenity herself didn't seem old enough to have a daughter Serena's age. But, than again, monarchs of the Silver Millenium didn't age as quickly as the rest of the people did. Serena had hundreds of years before her mother would so much as get a wrinkle, let alone step down from her throne.

Serena's eyes matched the color of the sky during the day. A perfect shade. And though it seemed to be the typical style of princesses in fairytales, Serena really did have naturally rosey cheeks and lips.

But, no matter how beautiful Serena was on the outside, it was her heart that made her what she was. She couldn't see anyone in pain. Even if there are servants working outside of the castle during the winter, the young Princess would remind them to take a break and come in from the cold. A heart, just like her mother. It was no wonder why the people of the moon were so loyal to their Queen and Princess.

Serena was definitely going to make her mother, and her people, proud of her one day. If only she could snap out of dreams for a brief minute.

And that's how Serena was, yet again, when her mother stumbled upon her in the gardens. Around Serena's neck was the star shaped locket her mother had given her as a gift when she was born. As usual, for Serena, she was slowly dancing around to the music from inside of the locket.

Serenity always smiled when she came across her daughter dancing. It reminded her of herself when she was young, and had nothing but dreams in her head. It was moments like that, that Serenity truly envied her daughter. Not that she didn't enjoy being Queen, it's just sometimes it make her wish she was normal.

Serena, who assumed she had been alone, had let her buns free from her hair, and made a small wreath of pink and white flowers, which she had on her head.

"Ahem," came Serenity's voice, causing Serena, who had her back to her mother, to freeze in place. Serenity's smile grew as Serena took the wreath off of her head, and slowly turned to face her. Afterwhich, Serena curtsied to her mother. "I didn't mean to scare you, darling," Serenity said after Serena stood up straight again.

Serena smiled sheepishly. She didn't exactly feel comfortable knowing her mother had seen her act childishly by dancing with flowers in her hair, not to mention with her hair down. "H-Hello, mother. I was just-"

Serenity, who had had her hands clasped in front of her, held her right hand up, "There's no need to apologize. You weren't doing anything wrong."

Serena nodded as she reached her hand up to close the locket, "Well, I didn't think anyone was here."

"Darling, are you under the impression you're in trouble?"

Serena scratched the back of her head with a nervious smile on her face, "No. I'm just embarrassed to have been caught dancing around like that."

Serenity smiled as she walked to Serena and took the flower wreath from her hands and placed it back onto her head, "I'm not one to tell you to act grown up. There's plenty of time for that, my dear. I suggest you enjoy what you have of your childhood-"

"-because you'll never get it back," Serena finished with a smile. She knew, she'd heard it quite a bit in the past year.

Serenity leaned down to kiss her cheek, "Of course."

Serena, who only stood as high as her mother's shoulders, looked up to her, "Is there a reason you came looking for me?"

Serenity looked back at the large castle behind her, then back to her daughter, "I've finished with documents and other diplomatic concerns for today. I thought I would find you and spend time with you. I've been neglecting you recently."

Serena shook her head, "No, no you haven't. You've been busy. I understand that, mother. It's alright."

"I feel that way when I can't be with you, darling. I'm your mother, and you're more important to me than politics. And the fact that I've barely seen you in nearly four weeks, has bothered me. Besides, I do believe we have a celebration to plan. I thought it was time I put in time for you and thought about that."

Serena's face lit up, "Would that happen to be _my_ birth celebration?"

Serenity winked, "Is there any other celebration as important as yours? Especially in a Kindom known for it's lavish parties?"

Serena giggled. Her mother always did make her feel like the most important person in her life. To Serena's surprise, Serenity, who was dressed in a very expensive and lavish dress, pulled Serena onto the grass beside her.

"Now, what would you like to do for your celebration?" Serenity asked as she plucked a pink flower from the grass.

Serena, who was actually sitting on her knees with her long white dress tucked underneath, no doubt getting a lot of challenging grass stains on it, thought for a moment before and idea hit her, "A mask! I want a mask celebration!"

Serenity tucked the flower in her hair, just behind her right ear, "You want a mask celebration? Well, that does seem interesting."

"And mysterious! And romantic! And-"

Serenity interuppted her by giggling, "Calm down, darling. A mask, that does sound like fun. Everyone dresses up in their finiest, and wearing a mask."

Serena nodded.

"Is that all?"

"No. I want it to be like a fairytale. I want everything to be just like a fairytale. Flowers everywhere. Beautiful music."

Serenity chuckled, "So, nothing like the celebration last year? No games?"

Serena shook her head, "No. I want it to be the most beautiful celebration anyone's ever seen. And something everyone will remember for a very long time!" Serena was on Cloud Nine. If it were possible, Serenity would have been sure she saw stars in her daughter's eyes.

Serenity smiled as she took in every word her daughter spoke. Serena was going on what she wanted, and what she didn't, at her celebration.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, your majesties," came Luna's voice from behind Serenity. Both Serenity and Serena turned to see their trusted friend, guardian, and advisor. Serenity, remembering the flower in her hair, quickly removed it and dropped it to the grass.

"Yes, Luna?" Serenity asked.

"There is a certain matter that we need to discuss," Luna said as she sat down next to Serenity.

"Oh? I thought we finished with all matters for the day," Serenity said, wondering if there was something she had forgotten.

"Yes, we did. But, this is a matter that has just come to my attention. Though, it can wait if you are busy."

Serenity turned to her daughter, who looked up at her, "I am sorry, darling. I have to attend to this."

Serena smiled lightly, "I understand."

Serenity stood up, then held her hand for Serena's, "I promise, we will finish discussing your celebration later tonight."

Serena nodded, then lifted her face up so that Serenity could kiss her cheek. When Serenity and Luna began walking back towards the castle, Serena lowered her head and sighed. She took off the wreath that had been on her head, and held it in her hand. No, she didn't think her mother neglected her, but she was willing to admit that she missed her. She looked up just in time to see her mother dissappear behind a wall, which would lead into one of the many doors to the castle.

After dropping the flower wreath to the grass, Serena herself began walking towards the castle. As she headed for the castle, she silently hoped that whatever the matter was, her mother would finish with it, and come to her like she had said. Afterall, Serenity never made a promise to Serena that she didn't keep.

**End of Chapter One**

Well? How is it so far? I'm going for a cute Serena/Darien fic (as if you couldn't tell) but I want it to have a background first. You know, not just jumping into them right off the bat. R & R please. )


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